How Is the Palms Doing since It Reopened under Tribal Ownership?

Any word on how the Palms has been doing since it reopened under Native American ownership?

[Editor's Note: This answer is penned by David McKee.]

Yes, there is and it’s mostly not good. Native American tribes don’t have to share their financial results and usually don’t. (Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun share some revenue data with Connecticut, but that’s exceptional.) So we’re operating with limited transparency.

As a consequence, we're reduced to omens, but they’re none too promising. The big, flashing, red light is that the Palms has been through three general managers in less than two years. That's never a good sign.

The Palms reopened after COVID and a disastrous stint as a Station Casino in April 2022. At the time, Vegas-savvy Cynthia Kiser Murphy was the GM and she steered the place for 26 months, restoring some old favorites like Ghostbar. Increasingly, her tenure was beset by rumblings that the Palms wasn't performing as well as the San Manuel Band would have liked.

Sure enough, Kiser Murphy resigned in June 2024. At the time, the casino’s vice president of casino operations got the axe, which tells you that the gambling floor wasn’t performing up to snuff.

The Palms cost the San Manuel Band $650 million and was generating a return on investment rumored to be in the neighborhood of $30 million a year or 4.6 percent, a pretty dire number for a casino. (And $30 million was probably a generous estimate.)

The Palms was rudderless for two months, when San Manuel landed new GM Steve Thayer. He'd gotten the chop from The Strat the same time that Kiser Murphy gave the Palms her notice. So he was available and not conflicted. He also presumably knew the market, having been with Caesars Entertainment for 15 years (i.e., long before it was renamed Caesars) prior to jumping ship to The Strat.

Thayer lasted 10 months. Unlike Kiser Murphy’s, his departure was immediate and unceremonious. VitalVegas reported, “Thayer’s bosses didn’t like a decision he made” and left it at that. Not even waiting for a new broom, the Palms cleaned house, evicting Mabel’s, Vetri Cucina, Laguna Pool House, and Rojo Lounge.

Following the Thayer departure, San Manuel looked in-house, promoting assistant general manager Kevin Glass to the top job (after four months without a GM). He’s no stranger to troubled properties, having worked at Cosmopolitan, the Downtown Grand, and SLS (now the Sahara once again).

It’s not easy to be a lone-wolf operator in Las Vegas. Witness the hiccups from the Rio and Virgin. But things have been pretty quiet since Glass took the helm. No news from the Palms tends to be good news.

The San Manuel Band’s player base is California-centric, which can be a handicap in these days of far-flung, hub-and-spoke, business models. They’ve always had their work cut out for them at the Palms and we hope for the best. It used to be one of the cutting-edge casinos in Sin City, before George Maloof overextended himself and lost the place. Can it regain forefront status? Possibly. But the odds are daunting.

No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.

Have a question that hasn't been answered? Email us with your suggestion.

Missed a Question of the Day?

Have a Question?

Tomorrow's Question

What are the 10 oldest hotel-casinos in Las Vegas?

Comments

Bob Apr-10-2026

Shuttles

Back when Harrah's/Caesars had a free shuttle that ran over to the Rio, it was a lot easier to venture over to the Palms and Gold Coast! now it never crosses my mind, except for Ping Pang Pong!

David Miller Apr-10-2026

The Palms

 I like the Palms. Good video poker scattered about. Very good buffet - but has long lines to enter. Good room comp offers for minimal play. Resort fee reduced to $24.95 per day. One of my favorite rooms in Vegas. No parking fees. Always busy throughout the day with regulars/locals. Compared to the Strip, the Palms is a great place to stay and gamble. Free play on your birthday month.

Tim Soldan Apr-10-2026

Buffet coupon

Its a shame they took away their buffet coupon with the MRB. It was the only thing that took me to the Palms.

Bob Nelson Apr-10-2026

A little surprising

I stopped in last December during golden week for the lobster buffet.  The Palms was one of the few casinos that I was in that actually felt alive.  Many tables were active or even full.  I played $10 3:2 blackjack for a while after dinner.  It wasn’t packed but it was much busier than most that week.

VegasVic Apr-10-2026

Palms Place

I stay at Palms Place usually when I'm in town (far less than I used to be).  It's on the opposite end of the property, good sized rooms, quiet.  A short indoor walk to the Palms casino.  The Palms itself is nice.  $5 blackjack (3/2) and $5 craps.  Free parking.  Along with Red Rock and GVR there are good options outside the overpriced, overrated strip.

Randall Ward Apr-10-2026

Palms

if the casinos would either run a casino or even an easy walkway from the strip I'd go, but it's just too isolated

Laurence Martin Apr-10-2026

My go to place

The palms has become our go place, good comps on rooms, good table rules, busy enough, good buffet. Other favorites- Red Rock and Resort at Summerland. Gave up on the strip except for a walk about due to the gouge.

That Don Guy Apr-10-2026

Whose brilliant idea was "Mystery Card Roulette"?

There was a time when Palms was offering a version of roulette called "Mystery Card Roulette"; instead of a ball and 38 slots numbered 00, 0, and 1-36, there were 38 cards with numbers on them set inside the wheel, which was spun, and the card that was pointed to was the winning number.
The only reason I can see for having this is, somebody thought it would get people visiting from California, where "card based" roulette is the only kind allowed (because of a quirk in the state Constitution, all table games have to be "card games"), more interested in playing.

Peter Alford Apr-10-2026

Great place with a fatal flaw

Palms is one of our favorite casinos.  However, we've reduced our play and stay there as the music in the casino is overwhelmingly loud. If they could get some control of the volume knob, we'd probably stay a half-dozen times a year (the new rooms in the Fantasy tower are probably the best value in Vegas) and play every time we were in town on our monthly trips.

Norman Braverman Apr-10-2026

Return on Investment

How does the 4.6% ROI compare to other properties?  We just spent three nights there and enjoyed our stay.  With the departure of Mabel's, one is limited to the Buffet, the Scotch 80 steakhouse, and two mid-level Asian restaurants (and the food court).We had a refurbished room, which was very comfortable. I played a lot of $5 Craps and BJ.  We found the selection of slots to be very good.

Question of the Day - 10 April 2026

Comments